Autumns Eyes

Background

Leading a new season in music, Daniel Mitchell runs a new, cutting edge solo metal project named Autumns Eyes. A deep combination of heavy metal, classic rock, and unique sound effects with an abundance of ultimate creativity and artistic direction similar to the great film composer Danny Elfman. Such bands as In Flames, Type O Negative, Dream Theater, Dimmu Borgir, and many other greats join the ranks of inspiration that make up what has become a revolutionary new approach to music. New sound. High Energy. A new season has come.

Autumns Eyes just released a studio video updating fans on the progress of new album "Ending Life Slowly," which follows previous release "Broken Leaves and Haunted Streets," and also issued this statement:

"It’s a strange position to be in, being a solo artist with no record label breathing deadlines down your neck. On one hand it’s quite therapeutic to create music without any restraints, but to fans who await your new material, it can be a grueling process of patience. When I first started making music under the name Autumns Eyes, I was cranking out song after song, album after album, and totally hitting my stride. As the years progressed, so too did the years between new albums.

"Working under seemingly limitless conditions caused this process of creation to become more relaxed, but at what cost? Well, the older you get, the more life tends to get in the way of things you once enjoyed so freely in your youth. What used to be such a well-oiled music making machine, has progressed into a passionate project that only gets attention whenever the calamity of life mellows out just enough to let the project thrive again. So, I suppose there are in fact limitations on my easy-going therapeutic recording sessions after all.

"Despite these limitations, there is still music to be made, and Halloween is looming over the horizon. While promotion for the album is set to ramp up as the months progress towards October, I've put together a video to quench anyones thirst who’s been curious as to whats been going on behind the scenes. 'Ending Life Slowly' is scheduled for release this Halloween, and the 10 song album will be accompanied by new music videos, merchandise, and other Autumns Eyes goodies that are sure to satisfy fans both old and new." More...

A recently released Autumns Eyes single titled "Internal Arson" can be heard below, and band mastermind Dan Mitchell also comments on an upcoming album:

"The bitter cold of February has fallen upon my shoulders like an iceberg, and with it comes an abundance of creative ideas born out of isolation. Living in Connecticut has its highs and lows, and this time of year is typically when people start letting the doom and gloom take over their lives.

"Fortunately, I use it to my advantage, and feed my creative drive. Since its impossibly cold outside, currently sitting at around ten below zero, my basement studio has become my home away from, but inside, my home. To say a few ideas have been brewing would be an understatement, so I will try my best to consolidate this update for those that give more than two shits.

"First and foremost is the album 'Ending Life Slowly,' which is currently sitting in release date limbo due to production snags and speed-bumps. As with every album, everything is done by myself, so I don’t have the luxury of a team behind me helping move the process along smoothly. That's not to say I am in any way disappointed with this record, its just important for me not to rush things and make sure it sounds exactly how I want it to sound before sending it off into the twisted world.

"This freedom and creative control is something many artists strive for, and is much less stressful than having a record company breathing down my back. Often times those issues will compromise an albums quality, causing the artist to release a sub-par performance. So while it may not be convenient in a traditional sense, its definitely a workflow I respect and enjoy taking advantage of. More...

After what seemed like an eternity that would make even Dracula impatient, the Autumns Eyes website is finally back online. Band mastermind Dan Mitchell comments:

"Since I am a one man band who doesn’t play live shows, the website acts as a breeding ground for all things heavy metal, halloween, and horror movie related.

"Once I started writing more articles that tickled fans morbid curiosity, the view count grew faster than Jason’s body count. In order to appease the filthy web gods, the site has been redesigned to adapt to whatever bloodsucking device your black little heart desires. That means desktop, tablet, and smartphone users can all play nice together without ripping their lungs out.

"I started this whole mess with Autumns Eyes over fifteen years ago, and what began as a small hobby has turned into an epic empire of unfathomable propo…okay maybe not that big, but its definitely turned into something larger than I ever imagined.

"As a huge thank you to all the twisted people who shared what I love with the rest of the world, Im offering up the entire Autumns Eyes discography for free download. Just visit Bandcamp here to grab these free metal albums before they disappear!"

Autumns Eyes fans will be pleased to know band mastermind Dan Mitchell has now provided vocals to a new single from German metal band Child Of Caesar, titled "Love In Black."

You can check out the song in the Bandcamp player below, or download a free copy of the track at Bandcamp here. "Love In Black" is the title track off a full-length album from Child Of Caesar due to drop on June 12th.

You can download a free copy of "Blood And Fire" at the Autumns Eyes website or stream the track below. Autumns Eyes also comments:

"Its that time of year again, and I've been working on a special treat for all you tricksters out there. Since there has been such an overwhelmingly positive response regarding the Autumns Eyes cover of Love You to Death, I decided to cover yet another Type O Negative song as a Halloween gift to everyone. This time around the track is Blood and Fire, and you can download it for free right now! Thank you for all of the support, and HAPPY FUCKING HALLOWEEN!!!" More...

After just under a year without any major updates, Autumns Eyes has now checked in with the following update:

"In case you haven’t noticed yet, Autumns Eyes has been dried out of updates for quite some time now. Many have questioned whether or not I was still alive, and I am deeply sorry to disappoint, but yours truly is still here. So that still begs the question of what has been going on during the down time.

"After moving into a new house last Summer, things looked promising up until some serious bull shit got in the way. First it was lyme disease, followed by an awful case of shingles. In case you are unaware, shingles is a virus which attacks those who have had chicken pox before. Think of it like a sharp toothed little bastard who chews on your nerves for weeks, or in my case, months at a time. Aside from having to listen to my own music over and over again, it was without question the most painful thing my body has experienced.

"Throughout all of my personal issues, there was a serious family issue that came up in the form of someone very close finding out they have stage four cancer. It was certainly a blow to my entire family, and we have since been doing everything we can to show our support and stay strong. Not only has it been an extremely trying time, but it has also been a time of inspiration. It has reminded myself and my family how precious our time here is, and not one drop of life should go to waste. More...

The new album "Broken Leaves and Haunted Streets" features re-recorded versions of the first five Autumns Eyes tracks ever written over a decade ago.

"Broken Leaves and Haunted Streets" follows the previous album "Please Deceive Me" (reviewed here) and is due out August 6th, 2013.

Band mastermind Dan Mitchell has now posted a track-by-track comparison of the original songs versus the new 2013 versions. You can read the full post and hear all the track comparisons at the Autumns Eyes website, or check out the first segment below:

"Broken Leaves and Haunted Streets was actually written back when I was seventeen years old and completely new to the songwriting process. I’d been a drummer all my life, and had more recently been experimenting at the time with guitar, bass, and piano.

"As a birthday and Christmas were approaching, my parents knew that I was in search of a new drum set, but instead opted to get me a different kind of gift in the shape of a four track recorder. They thought it would be a better investment down the line if I knew how to record and capture my own creativity, but I was reluctant to accept this idea and barely touched the device for the first year owning it. More...

Solo metal act Autumns Eyes has revealed the project's new album will be titled "Broken Leaves and Haunted Streets."

The follow-up to "Please Deceive Me" (reviewed here) is scheduled for release on August 6th of this year. Autumns Eyes also comments:

"The instrumental album features the first five songs ever written for Autumns Eyes back in its humble beginnings over fourteen years ago. The songs were originally captured on a four track recorder with a crude format that never stood the test of time. It's time for these tracks to receive a proper recording, and I am extremely thrilled to share the songs that launched my career in heavy music."

The track listing for "Broken Leaves and Haunted Streets" is as follows:

Dan Mitchell of solo metal act Autumns Eyes has checked in with the following announcement about launching a Kickstarter campaign to get his nine albums on all major digital retailers:

"I've been devoting my time and passion into Autumns Eyes for over fourteen years, but never truly promoted on a large scale up until a couple years ago. Currently there are only two Autumns Eyes albums available in all the major digital retail outlets, and this Kickstarter project is aimed at getting the entire discography out there as well.

"Each album will be released on over sixty stores in addition to being registered for use in film, television, and video game soundtracks. The project goal is set at $750 with rewards ranging from free albums to a signed BC Rich guitar used by Autumns Eyes. Any funding that goes beyond the set goal will be used towards future promotions including the annual Autumns Eyes Halloween Costume Contest."

For more details on this Autumns Eyes Kickstarter Project, head over to this location. Autumns Eyes released latest full-length album "Please Deceive Me" last year (reviewed here). More...

Autumns Eyes is currently working on a new EP to follow the previous full-length album "Please Deceive Me" (reviewed here).

A video shot during the acoustic guitar recording sessions for the release has been posted online and can be viewed below. Autumns Eyes also comments:

"The upcoming EP from solo metal band Autumns Eyes features a fair amount of acoustic guitars, and here we get to see a sneak peek of an overdubbing session for the new album.

"For all you gear heads out there, the acoustics for this album were recorded in a somewhat non-traditional fashion utilizing a Shure SM57 microphone, rather than the standard condenser microphones used on the majority of acoustic recordings." More...

Solo metal act Autumns Eyes, which released new album "Please Deceive Me" (reviewed here) earlier this year, has now posted the first in a series of video blogs called "Behind the Riffs."

Check out this first video covering the band's debut "Remember the Victim" album in the player below. To hear more from Autumns Eyes, check out the music video for the title track off "Please Deceive Me" at this location.

Autumns Eyes, which released new album "Please Deceive Me" (reviewed here) earlier this year, has issued the following statement about re-recording early songs:

"I recently revealed a current project where Im recording the first five songs ever written by yours truly. Lots of fans have been asking for details on what to expect sonically from this new release. Right off the bat you will notice the songs are much longer and more in depth than any other Autumns Eyes tracks. The song style is very sporadic as I never paid attention to popular formats featuring verse-chorus-verse or something similar. You can also rest assure my wretched voice won’t be gracing the album anywhere, since these are all instrumental songs.

"I never wrote the songs for public release, they were just some what of a hobby for me in the beginning. I was a drummer for my entire life, and when my parents asked what I wanted for Christmas in 1998 all I could repeat was a new drum set. The time came and there was no drums in sight, all that bastard Santa Claus left was a four track recorder. Apparently my parents got the idea from my brother in law (also a musician) who suggested the four track to be a smarter choice in the long run, and how right he was!

"The device collected dust for months before I actually used it, but when I did it was like opening the creative flood gates. I borrowed a friends keyboard and played out drum tracks by hand followed by guitars, bass, and keyboards. I had never written a song before, and simply wrote riff after riff piecing together whatever sounded right at the time. Eventually my friends began to take notice, and apparently like what they heard. One of their favorite tracks they nicknamed the 'Mad Clown Song' for its Elfman inspired demonic circus sound.

Autumns Eyes, which released new album "Please Deceive Me" (reviewed here) earlier this year, has issued the following announcement about working on a new music video:

"Its been a while since Ive brought everyone back up to speed with whats been going on in the Autumns Eyes realm these days. Lots of time has been spent planning the next phase, which will include a new music video and even a new album. The music video will be for the track 'Haunting Your Daughter' and will be shot later this summer. Story wise I can't give away too much, but I can tell you that visually it will be inspired by some of my favorite old school horror films both in the look and the amount of gore you will witness.

"I have also been working on recording the first five songs I ever wrote back in 1999 when I started this project. They are all instrumentals covering a wide variety of styles which laid the groundwork for all Autumns Eyes material to come. I originally recorded them on a four track recorder, but since it was my first time recording I truly had barely any idea of how to operate the equipment properly. I'm completely in lust with the material itself, so to give them a proper recording is quite a fun experience to say the least.

"Outside the Autumns Eyes world I have also been devoting a large chunk of my time to reworking the Beneath the Woods Studio website. Aside from the standard audio and web services I will also be offering (my new hobby) photography as well. The site will also feature a ton of tips and articles on both recording and design.

"In the meantime I am constantly updating the Autumns Eyes website with features, articles, top ten lists, and many more random things pertaining to horror movies, Halloween, and heavy metal."

You can also check out the band's previously posted music video for the album's title track at this location.

Solo metal act Autumns Eyes is premiering the first music video off the band's latest release, "Please Deceive Me" (reviewed here) on Metal Underground.com. You can watch the video for the album's title track below.

Band mastermind Dan Mitchell commented on this track:

The video for 'Please Deceive Me' was shot in the eerie haunted woods of Salem, MA where I was originally born and raised by lesbian witches who taught me how to hang myself from an early age. If you pay attention to the lyrics of the song, you'll notice a similarity with the visuals as well. Its basically about addiction abuse, and how its such a struggle to break free from that when you are faced to live a life with so many reminders of your past haunting you day after day. Im not going to lie, it was a bit creepy having to hang myself. That was a real noose, tied to a real tree, around my real neck. Granted it wasn't as violent a hanging to where I would suffer death, but terrifying to pull off nonetheless. My bloody eyeball at the end was not quite a thrilling experience either. Hopefully the kids like it!

It's a strong misconception that musicians in the limelight are financially stable, and have more money than they know what to do with. Granted this may be true for your GaGa's and Green Day's of the world, but not with independent artists such as myself. Independent musicians actually strive to be successful financially, and use their talents to make a paycheck just like anyone else in the working world. There's only one problem, well actually several problems. I'm speaking of course about all the greedy selfish bums who pirate and steal music.

I used to be one of them, and I'm ashamed to admit it. I downloaded hordes of music in the past, and never thought twice about doing so. It wasn't until I began selling my own music when I realized what a shameful display of greed this epidemic has become.

When I started recording music under the name Autumns Eyes, I had no intentions of promoting or selling my creations. Several years passed by with only a small group of friends hearing what I'd recorded. It wasn't until a couple years ago that I got into promoting what I do in hopes of sharing it with the masses. More...

Well over a year ago, Dan Mitchell (of Autumns Eyes) pitched the idea of putting together a tribute album to Peter Steele (Type O Negative, Carnivore) for release on the first anniversary of his passing.

After Dan, Ty (Metalunderground.com Content Manager) and I spent countless hours coordinating and working to make this project happen, and a dozen bands volunteered to record cover songs the tribute on their own dime, "All For None, None For All: A Tribute To Peter Steele" came to fruition and was released last year on April 14, 2011. It's safe to say that we were very pleased with the final result. I was amazed at the quality of all of the songs and pleased with the variety, making it one of my favorite albums of the year.

The only thing we were not pleased with was that we were forced to charge for this album in order to cover licensing fees and "do this the right way" (i.e. legally). We would have much rather released the tribute for free and see it spread as far and wide as possible - for fans everywhere to hear these great renditions of Type O Negative and Carnivore classics as performed by quality underground metal bands. But that was not possible and we settled on the bare minimum price to cover all of the fees: $3 USD per download.

Figuring out the licensing process was an effort unto itself, and in the end we had to pre-purchase a fixed number of licenses. These licenses are only good for a year, and their expiration is rapidly approaching in just days. The last day you will be able to purchase "All For None, None For All: A Tribute To Peter Steele" directly from us will be April 13, 2012.

It would be a shame to see this tribute disappear entirely. We may get the album up on other services such as Amazon.com. (iTunes does not let us set the price, so the album will not be available there). But there are no guarantees on this, or that it will be available in all territories. But one thing is for sure: This is your last chance to buy this full album download for a mere $3.00 (USD), as the fees for other storefronts (who handle the licensing) are higher and will have to be factored in to the price.

If you're a fan of Type O Negative, underground metal or this site (Metalunderground.com), please show us your support by ordering a copy of this tribute so we can fulfill all of the licenses that we purchased and get this compilation out to as many people as possible. If you have friends who may enjoy it, buy them a copy. What's $3 for a full album?

The track listing, which includes interpretations ranging from depressive rock to power metal to death metal and black metal, are as follows:

Solo metal band Autumns Eyes is gearing up to release its long awaited new album, "Please Deceive Me" (reviewed here) and Metalunderground.com has the full album stream album nearly a full week prior to release. You can hear the album in the player below. "Please Decieve Me" will finally be released on April 1, 2012, after delays stemming from Autumns Eyes mastermind Dan Mitchell undergoing hand surgery, contributing to and coordinating Metalunderground.com's Peter Steele tribute album, and the Fall snow storm of 2011 among other things.

Of the release, Dan Mitchell commented:

"I'm really excited about this new release as its become a chance to explore different production techniques which focus completely on the listeners' experience. There was a lot of care and thought put into dynamics, and volume control. In a time where so many metal albums are becoming squashed due to the ongoing loudness wars, finding an album with dynamics that won't hurt your ears when you turn it up is few and far between. When you listen to an overly compressed album at high volumes, your hearing gets shot much quicker. The loud parts are loud, the soft parts are loud, and the dynamics have been completely destroyed. That's not the case with 'Please Deceive Me.' The music breathes throughout each song, and in turn gives the songs energy in all the right spots. I encourage listeners to use their volume knobs here, and turn it way the fuck up!"

Connecticut-based solo metal band Autumns Eyes has premiered a new song, "The Wooded Road," off the upcoming "Please Deceive Me" album via Puregrain Audio. "Please Deceive Me" will be released on April 1st, 2012.